JAMESTOWN TOWNSHIP, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – The failure of the millage for Patmos Library in Ottawa County has failed for a second time, leaving the future of the library in greater uncertainty.
Earlier this year, Romance Novelist Nora Roberts helped contribute to the library’s GoFundMe account which raised more than $260,000 in total, but not enough to allow the library to remain open for the long term.
In a statement before the election, the library said,
“…It means a lot that people are standing with this library and our community,” the statement reads, “The financial support for the library is incredible and will help us weather the immediate crisis. However, we know very clearly that what this library needs to remain open over the long term is to pass the 10-year levy renewal in November.”
Of the 10,000 residents in Jamestown township, 55.8% voted against the millage in large part because of certain books, some of which contained LGBTQ themes that the library refused to remove. There were 90 of such books of the total 67,000 books in one of two public libraries in the area.
The millage accounts for 85% of the library’s annual budget according to WOOD-TV, which is about $200,000. Michigan law prevents the millage from going to voters again this year, making the library’s future seem unlikely.
“These are very challenging times for libraries in general and there is a huge increase in a number of materials that have been challenged,” Lakeland Library Cooperative Member Carol Dawe said.
Others in the community argue the books have no place near children.
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“It should not be something that children can pick up accidentally and bring home and then parents are surprised by what they see in the book,” former librarian Ria Faber said.
After the Dearborn School District’s decision to restrict student access to controversial books in the district, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) sent a letter to the Michigan Public Schools encouraging action against more book banning.
“We cannot run the Patmos Public Library for the next decade without stable taxpayer support,” the library statement said, “If the levy fails, we will put these donations to work in the best way we can for as long as we can.”
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